Men's Basketball
Poll Drop Adding Fuel to Cats’ Fire

Poll Drop Adding Fuel to Cats’ Fire

by Guy Ramsey

After a week of upheaval in college basketball, Kentucky fans were looking forward to the release of new rankings this week. A bump, after a blowout of Louisville and a victory over Georgia in both teams’ Southeastern Conference opener, seemed likely.
 
Instead, UK fell a spot to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25, jumped by Arizona.
 
John Calipari isn’t typically the kind of coach to dwell on or even talk about such things, but he took note.
 
“It’s not who we’ve played,” Calipari said. “Our schedule is basically a top-20 schedule. So it’s not who we’ve played; it’s that people watch us and really don’t think we’re that good. I said, ‘Either they don’t think you guys are that good or they don’t think I can coach. Or how about this one: Maybe it’s both. They don’t think I can coach or you can play.’ “
 
Of course, there’s evidence to the contrary on both counts. Don’t think Calipari is indignant about it all though. Purposeful is a better descriptor.
 
“You just use it as fuel,” Calipari said. “I’ve done this so long. I’ve seen us overrated at times and I’ve seen us underrated at times. Fans will get into it. I just want them (the players) to know you’re not getting the respect, but that means you’re going to have to earn it. You haven’t gotten it yet.”
 
Consider that message received, loud and clear.
 
“We just have to fight harder now,” Quade Green said. “Give us motivation.”
 
“It’s definitely crazy,” Tai Wynyard said. “There’s not really any words for it. We just have to go out there and prove ourselves. There’s nothing you can say to fix that.”
 
Since it all comes down to action, UK’s next opportunity to respond to doubters comes Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. when the Wildcats (11-2, 1-0 SEC)) travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face LSU (9-3, 0-0 SEC). It will be the first true road game for Kentucky.
 
“All these younger guys are going to have to learn that there’s going to be some crazy fans in there that’s going to be yelling at you,” Wynyard said. “You’re going to have to block it all out and play the game.”
 
The game will be played against first-year head coach Will Wade’s Tigers, who carry a three-game winning streak into the matchup. The crowd at Pete Maravich Assembly Center figures to be primed and ready for the Cats, and so will LSU.
 
The Tigers have a potent offense averaging 1.21 points per possession, a figure that ranks seventh nationally. LSU also ranks seventh in field-goal percentage and comes in at 20th in offensive-rebounding rate, grabbing 36.1 percent of its own misses.
 
“They’re playing more of an open game,” Calipari said. “They post it, but they’re more pick-and-roll and open the court. They’re making 10 3s a game. The last five games they’re over 10 3s a game. So they’re playing wide open. They’re playing fast. They’re scoring probably about 90 a game.”
 
Leading the Tigers is freshman Tremont Waters. The 5-foot-11 point guard is averaging 17.1 points and 6.4 assists and hitting 44.9 percent from beyond the arc.
 
“Great with the ball, finds people, has a green light to shoot to the NBA line so he’ll go back there and shoot NBA 3s,” Calipari said. “Gets to the rim. When he’s getting to the rim, he’ll find you. He’s tough, he’s good. Good foul shooter. He’s a handful.”
 
Quade Green, who figures to spend some time shadowing him, calls Waters a friend and has a healthy respect for his game.
 
“Like Shabazz Napier a little bit,” Green said of Waters. “He’s shifty, can use both hands, can shoot. He gets to the rim but he doesn’t like it too much. He likes to pull up. He’s got different stuff that we have to stop.”
 
Even with that friendship, Waters will be looking to give pollsters another reason to knock Green’s UK team down another few spots. Calipari doesn’t want them to have that chance.
 
“I just said, ‘Look, if we go to LSU and they beat us by 40, then they were all right,’ ” Calipari said. ” ‘If we go down there and win, then maybe they’re not right. It probably won’t change things, but we’ll have to keep proving what we are.’ “
 

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